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Slideshow: 10 Black History Month facts you may not know

Carter G. Woodson, born December 19, 1875, founded Negro History Week (which later became Black History Month) in 1926. The goal of the celebration was to create and popularize knowledge about the black past.

(AP Photo)

Who said this quote: “Seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history,” and on what occasion?”

President Gerald R. Ford while officially proclaiming February Black History Month for the first time.

(Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

When did Black History Month become a month?

In 1976, fifty years after the start of Negro History Week, the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History used its influence to institutionalize the shifts from a week to a month.

(African Burial Ground National Monument)

In the early 1920’s, who pioneered the popularity of Black History Month?

Teachers. Teachers inundated Woodson and the ASALH with demands for information to educate their students about the influences African-Americans had on society.

(Fotolia)

Do other countries besides to US celebrate Black History Month?

Yes! Canada celebrates Black History Month in February as well. The United Kingdom also celebrates Black History Month, but in October.

(Getty Images)

Do you know this year’s theme for Black History Month?

This year’s theme is “African-Americans in the Civil War.” African-Americans were instrumental in the north winning the civil war. Nearly 200,000 freed slaves joined Union forces, helping defeat the Confederacy.

(Original art by Peter Culos, Point Pleasant, NJ)

For how many years has a theme been attached to Black History Month?

85 years. Since the beginning Woodson attached a theme to even the weeklong celebrations. Past themes have included “The History of Black Economic Empowerment” and “From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas.”

Image from the cover of ‘American Uprising’

While the NAACP did not found Black History Month, they celebrate it along with the rest of the country. So do you know when the NAACP was founded?

February 12, 1909 on the centennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

(AP Photo/George Eastman House, Matthew B. Brady)

Why was February picked to be Black History Month?

The month of February was chosen due to the fact that it was the same month as Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass (pictured), who both were instrumental in instating the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

Black History Month is celebrating it’s 85th anniversary this year. Now, Black History Month is something we all learned about way back in elementary school, but how much did you really retain about the origins of the occasion?